


found

by weathering



Series: it's a slow burning fire [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Pre-Relationship, cullen and cassandra are bros, snarky cassandra, zeva the large angry hart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 06:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11915511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weathering/pseuds/weathering
Summary: Nothing will break up a routine like a large, angry hart bursting into camp.Or, the one where horsemaster Dennet doesn't make an appearance because he's off questioning his life choices.





	found

“Again!” Cullen shouts at his soldiers over the noise of the metal clashing, trying to keep himself from rubbing his eyes in frustration as half of them blunder the shield bash he’s been trying to teach them for the past few days. He reminds himself that they are new to this, that they’re willing volunteers, and that he has to make do with what he has. “Remember to angle your shields down!”

“Well, they certainly have not gotten any worse,” mumbles Cassandra from his left, sticking her sword in the snow in front of her as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. Her brow wrinkles as she frowns at them, squinting against the sun.

“Most of them have only been training for a few months,” he admonishes her, as if he hadn’t been thinking the same thing moments earlier. “Some of them for even less. I think they’re doing quite well, considering.”

They both watch as one soldier completes a successful shield bash, knocking his opponent off his feet, but before Cullen can make a smug remark the soldier trips over his opponent's feet and topples over. Cullen cringes, and can’t keep himself from rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Good shield bash Eric, but do try to stay on your feet next time-” he starts, but gets distracted by a sudden commotion from the other side of the camp, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the soldiers. “Maker’s breath, if one of the mages accidentally set a tent on fire again…” 

Cassandra rolls her eyes, pulling her sword out of the snow. They haven’t made it past the first row of tents when an inhuman scream splits through the noise, the high pitch carrying. Cullen makes eye contact with Cassandra who looks just as shocked, and they both break into a run, making it out from behind the tents to see a handful of soldiers gathered around the largest hart he’s ever seen. It’s easily the size of his own mount, which towers over many of the mounts in the stable, and it’s hard to tell much more about it when it’s coat is caked in dirt. The hart tosses it’s antlered head from side to side, just barely missing the soldiers who are trying to wrangle it, lashing out with sharp hooves at anyone who gets too close. It has its ears pinned back and even from as far back as he is he can see the whites of its eyes, angry and terrified.

“How did that thing get into camp?” Cassandra asks, unsure of what to do other than stand aside and watch as soldiers keep trying to throw ropes around it. 

“I think the better question is where did it come from,” replies Cullen, hand tightening on the pommel of his sword, looking around for a better weapon to take down an angry beast with and wondering where the hell the horsemaster is. “There aren’t any herds close by.”

A rope catches on one antler, and the soldier who threw it pulls sharply on it, causing the hart to let out another scream as it rears up on its hind legs, pulling the rope out of the soldier’s hands in the process. A few other soldiers manage to get ropes around a few antler tines, and he’s about to shout out commands to take it down when a high pitched call carries across the yard. 

It causes everyone to freeze and turn towards the noise, the hart included, tottering on its hind legs, ears flicking forward. The Herald is standing halfway across the yard, hands cupped around her mouth. She stops when she has everyone’s attention, beast and soldier alike, gold pauldrons hanging halfway off her shoulders and glinting in the sun. The blacksmith catches up with her, and Ariadne shrugs off the pauldrons and hands them back to him before brushing him off. He backs away quickly when she calls out again, the high pitched tones carrying easily across the space. 

Before anyone can react the hart’s front feet hit the ground again and it charges towards the Herald, the sudden movement ripping the soldiers who were still holding onto the ropes wound around its antlers off their feet and dragging them along behind it. Cullen and Cassandra both make a lunge at the beast as it thunders past them and miss by a mile, but the Herald holds her ground. Cullen feels horror settle into his stomach, positive that the Herald is going to be trampled by a mutant hart while he stands by and does nothing, when it slides to a stop directly in front of her. It’s breathing hard, breath fogging up, ears flat against its head, and Ariadne just stares up at it with an annoyed look on her face. 

The yard is silent as the pair stare each other down for a few moments. No one moves, and Cullen is considering reaching for the crossbow laying a few feet away when Ariadne suddenly starts shouting something in Dalish. Cullen freezes, hand halfway to the crossbow as she gestures wildly, which makes the hart take a step back and give a decidedly shocked snort. It waits another moment before lowering its head and shoving it against her torso, nearly knocking her head with its antlers. Ariadne laughs, stopping whatever tirade she’d been on to scratch it behind its ears as the soldiers watch, dumbfounded. Cassandra meets his eye, confused, and all Cullen can do is shrug helplessly. 

When they look back the Herald is helping soldiers to their feet, all of which are staring at the hart that is now trotting along behind her. She gives each of them a once over to make sure they’re okay, and sends a few of them in the direction of the medical tent with an apologetic expression. Cassandra clears her throat as she draws closer.

“Herald,” she says, eyeing the hart wearily. “Would you care to explain?”

“This is Zeva. I apologise for her behavior, it won’t happen again,” Ariadne says calmly, in a tone that left no room for argument.

“And where, may I ask, did…she...come from?” Cassandra manages to ask, staring at the hart that is towering over Ariadne and glaring at the soldiers from over her shoulder. 

“My clan raised harts. When I came of age, I was allowed to train a fawn as my own. Zeva chose me, and has been my mount ever since,” Zeva looks down at the mention of her name, and then goes back to glowering at the lot of them. “I rode her to the Conclave and set her loose to roam while I was there. Best case scenario, I’d assumed that she’d gone back to clan Lavellan after the explosion,” she stopped to reach up and scratch her jaw. “But her coming to find me? Can’t say I was expecting that.” 

“Should I inform the horsemaster to clear a space in the stables?” Cullen asked, and Zeva takes a moment to stare him down. Absently, he thinks that she and Cassandra will get on splendidly. 

“Creaters no, I wouldn’t ask that of Dennet,” Ariadne laughs, “He has enough on his hands with that fussy nuggalope that Leliana brought in. I’ll just let her wander; she’ll come when she’s needed. But first, she’s in dire need of a bath. I almost didn’t recognise her, covered in this much mud.”

Zeva huffs, and Ariadne says something to her in Dalish before vaulting onto the hart’s back, who doesn’t so much as flinch. She almost looks more comfortable astride the hart than she does on the ground.

“I’m so sorry about the commotion, it won’t happen again. She won’t bother the soldiers if they leave her be, and I’ll make sure she stays out of the way.” 

“I’ll hold you to that, Herald,” Cullen says, and she grins down at them, clicking her tongue and riding off towards the lake.

They stare after her, and Cassandra puts her sword back into its sheath and crosses her arms. 

“You know, it was probably a struggle for her not to laugh in that noble’s face when he gifted her that hart last month,” she comment. “He’s half the size of that one, and was described as ‘suitable for beginners’.”

“Well did you guess that an angry monster hart was going to show up on our doorstep?” Cullen challenges, and Cassandra scoffs. 

“No, but neither did you. And, if I may remind you, you offered to give her  _ riding lessons. _ ”

Cullen groans and rubs his hand over his face, feeling the blush rise on his cheeks. “Maker’s breath, don’t remind me. She asked me if they’d be private lessons and I couldn’t look her in the eye for days.”

“Considering how she just hopped onto that beast and rode bareback into the lake, I do say that you could take some pointers from her,” Cassandra says, making sure to maintain eye contact. “I imagine you are fairly out of practice.”

Cullen chokes as she turns and walks away, a smug grin on her face. 

**Author's Note:**

> When I was studying abroad, the woman who lived across from me kept telling me stories about the dog she had growing up. Both she and the dog were small for their age and had problems getting enough nutrients from their food. So when she got pills and vitamins to help with that, they gave some to the dog as well. They ended up working a little too well on the dog, who ended up growing a lot more than she should have, to the point where vets wouldn't believe that she was a female until they checked. Zeva is very, very, loosely based on that dog.
> 
> And the call that Ari uses is a variation on kulning, which you should definitely look up on youtube because it's beautiful.
> 
> Come find me on tumblr at onesparrow.tumblr.com


End file.
